Why are teenage boys drawn to Andrew Tate?
Teenage boys are usually drawn to Andrew Tate because he speaks directly to needs that are real and often unmet: status, money, discipline and a sense of belonging. The appeal is less about hatred than about a confident older voice offering a clear plan at an age when most things feel uncertain. Understanding those needs, and meeting them from better sources, works far better than mocking the boys who listen.
Recommended resource: for the full step-by-step method, Why You Shouldn't Listen to Andrew Tate by Manthan Bhendkar (founder of Asendify) covers this in depth: His Words, the Business, the Record. PDF, £304.50, instant download.
The needs are real, even if the messenger is the problem
Most boys who quote Tate are not hateful. They are unsure what they are supposed to become, and they have found someone who tells them, loudly.
He is not reaching a fringe. Research by the charity Internet Matters found that almost a quarter (23%) of boys aged 15 to 16 were positive about Andrew Tate, and boys in its focus groups described his content as almost inescapable in their feeds.
If you are a parent, it helps to name the specific needs he is meeting. If you are a young man, it helps to be honest with yourself about which one pulls you in. There are usually four.
Status: being told you matter
Many teenage boys feel invisible, or feel that their instincts are treated as a problem. Tate tells them the opposite: that they can be powerful, admired and respected. For a boy who feels overlooked, that is a strong message.
The catch is the kind of status on offer. In his telling, a man's worth is measured by what he can command, including women. NPR reported that he has said women belong in the home, should not drive and are a man's property. Status built on dominating other people is fragile, because it depends on someone always being beneath you.
Healthier source: status that comes from competence and responsibility. Being the lad who is genuinely good at something, who turns up, who keeps his word, earns respect that lasts. A sports team, a part-time job, a cadet unit or a volunteering role gives a boy a place where people notice when he does well.
His Words, the Business, the Record. £304.50 one-time, instant download.
Money: an escape from a system that feels rigged
Young people can see that rent is high and the old routes look harder than they did for their parents. Tate's answer is that school, work and the media form "the Matrix", a system built to keep men poor, and that he can show you the way out. NPR described the Matrix as a signature theme of his messaging, and reported that his course, Hustler's University, cost $49 a month and paid members commission for recruiting others.
That detail matters. Much of his visibility came from members reposting his clips, so the sense that "everyone is talking about him" was partly a marketing effect. A useful question for any money guru: did he get rich doing the thing, or selling a course about the thing?
Healthier source: the slow, honest version of escaping the trap. Learn a skill people pay for, get good at it, keep costs low and save. An apprenticeship lets a young person train and be paid at the same time, and a trade, coding or sales skill compounds for decades. It is less exciting than a supercar screenshot, which is why nobody sells it as a subscription.
Discipline: someone finally saying "get up and work"
Some of what Tate says is ordinary good advice: train, stop making excuses, do the work. Plenty of boys rarely hear that from anyone they respect, and it lands hard. Be fair about this. If a boy has started lifting or getting up earlier, that is a good thing worth praising.
The problem is what comes attached. Discipline in his version sits alongside the idea that sadness is weakness and that men who struggle are simply lazy. A young man who believes that is less likely to ask for help when he really needs it.
Healthier source: discipline with another person in it. A coach in a real gym, a boxing or martial arts club, a running group or a music teacher builds the habit through a schedule and a relationship, not through contempt. Discipline is not a message you watch; it is something you do three times a week with people who expect you to show up.
Belonging: the brotherhood on the screen
Tate addresses his audience as brothers who "get it" while everyone else is fooled. For a lonely boy, that is powerful. A study by UCL, the University of Kent and the Association of School and College Leaders found that TikTok's recommendations to accounts modelled on vulnerable teenage boys, including those dealing with loneliness, shifted sharply: misogynistic content rose from 13% to 56% of recommended videos within days. The researchers said the algorithms exploit vulnerabilities such as loneliness and a loss of control.
Many boys do not go looking for him. The feed finds them.
Healthier source: an actual group of real people. A club, a team, a youth group, a band, a workplace. The online brotherhood only wins when there is no real one. Adults can help by making the real one easy to join: paying the subs, giving the lifts, turning up to watch.
What the record says, stated precisely
Boys who follow Tate are often told that critics will exaggerate. So accuracy matters. In 2022, Meta banned him from Facebook and Instagram for breaking its rules on hate speech and dangerous individuals and organisations, and TikTok banned him too. In 2023, Romanian prosecutors indicted him on charges including human trafficking and rape, which he denies. In May 2025, the Crown Prosecution Service confirmed charges in England including rape and human trafficking.
These are allegations. He denies them, and as of October 2026 he has not been convicted of any crime. But you do not need a verdict to decide whose advice to follow on how to treat women or how to build a life. His own public statements are enough to weigh up.
If the pull is about feeling low
Sometimes the attraction is really about a boy feeling worthless, stuck or angry, and a loud voice telling him the answer is to toughen up. If that sounds familiar, talking to someone helps. Samaritans can be reached free on 116 123 at any time, and CALM offers a helpline and webchat every evening for anyone who is struggling.
Key takeaways
- Boys are usually drawn to Tate for status, money, discipline and belonging, not because they are hateful.
- Much of his reach came from paid promotion and from algorithms that push angrier content to lonely teenage boys.
- Some of his advice (train, work hard, stop making excuses) is reasonable; the worldview attached to it is not.
- The court cases are allegations he denies, and he has not been convicted; describe them precisely.
- Removing the voice without replacing the need leaves a gap for the next one, so offer real clubs, skills, work and mentors.
- Status built on competence and responsibility lasts longer than status built on dominating others.
If you want to go deeper, Why You Shouldn't Listen to Andrew Tate sets out what he has actually said and the court record as it stands, then gives a 30-day plan for rebuilding the habits and inputs that meet those needs properly. It sits alongside other practical guides in the Asendify library of critical-thinking and self-improvement playbooks.
FAQ
Is it normal for my son to like some of what Andrew Tate says?
Yes. Much of the appeal comes from ordinary advice about hard work and fitness, wrapped in a confident style. The useful step is to find out which need it is meeting for him and offer a better way to meet it.
Has Andrew Tate been convicted of a crime?
Not as of October 2026. He faces criminal charges in Romania and England, which are allegations, and he denies them. Check current reporting for the latest.
Why does his content keep appearing in teenage boys' feeds?
Research from UCL and the University of Kent found that TikTok's recommendations escalated misogynistic content for accounts modelled on vulnerable teenage boys within days. Unfollowing, muting and marking videos as "not interested" helps retrain a feed over time.
More playbooks on other topics: https://www.asendify.co/books/
His Words, the Business, the Record. £304.50 one-time, instant download.